Brake for wigwag signals



March 30 1926. 1,578,844

M. s. MORSE BRAKE FOR wIGwAG SIGNALS Filed Jan. 25, 1925 shaft 14;. Upon this sector 2T a segment brake band 28 is placed which is engaged at each oi" its ends 2%) by a yoke 30 which has a tension spring 2531 attached thereto, this tension spring being stressed by a screw secured in the bottom of the box 11. Upon pins lef. and 35, each one ot which is mounted centrally in an end ot the armature 1T, arms 37 are ivoted, to the ends oi which arms side bars 38 are secured by nuts 39. The torward ends Ll1 ot the bars 38 ext end over and rest upon the brake band 28, when the mag nels 1S and 1f) are not energized. rthe bars lle being` ot iron serve as auxiliary armatures and are attracted and thus li'l'ted by the magnets 18 and 1f) whenever the device is in operation, causing the arms 3T' to swing upwardly ugon the pivot pins 3l and :l5 iuto engagement with stop pins @i3 which. prevent the arms 3T swinging to such a height that the bars 38 would strike the extending cores 11 et the magnets.

VFrom the foregoing, it will be perceived that whenever the device is in operation, the arms 37 and the side bars 38 will be raised against the stop pins by the magnetic flux liowing in the magnets 18 and 19. ln `such raised position the ends 4:1 ot the side bars 25S clear and pass over engagement lugs 46, mounted upon the brake band 2S at a slightly greater distance apart than the over-all width ot the bars 38, so that 'the bars 3S may rest upon the brake band 28 between the engagementprojections lit, when the magnets are not energized.

The operation et the device is as follows: Through a suitable switch means the signal is supplied with current, upo-n the approach of a car, which current energizes the magnets 18 and 19 alternately as previously described, causing the armature 17 to be attracted back and toi-th and thus oscillated as the magnetic flux is built up in either ot the magnets. The bar 38 adjacent to the magnet being energized, is attracted upwardly so that as the armature 17 is pulled over, the ends Ll1 et the bars 38 will not engage the projection 4S adjacent thereto, but will ride freely thereover and permit the armature to pass through complete oscillation. ihis attraction ol the armature 17 and lifting et the arms 38 occurs alternately as the armature 17 is reciprocated in either direction, and no interference ot the action oi' the device is encountered due to the jn'esence ot the brake mechanism. Upon the discontinuance ot the flow ot current to the mag nets, the arms 38 drop and the ends itl thereof' drop onto the brake band 28. lt it happens that at the time of dropping ot the arms 38, the armature 17 is drawn over considerably to one side so that one of 'the ends l11 drops outside the contines ot the two engagement members 4G, the end l1 rides over the sloping tace ot whichever ot the members 16 is adjacent thereto, and is thus brought within the contines otthe members. Then as the armature swings over, due to the oscillating tendency ot the target attached to the arm 12, one et the ends 41 et the bars 38 engages an engagement member 46 and causes the brake band 28 to slide upon the sector 27 against 'the centralizing action of the spring 31, and

the arn'iature is then swung in the opposite direction, the opposite end l1 comes into contact with an engagement member 11G' and the brake band 28 is forced in the opposite direction upon the sector 27. The brake band 2S is trictionally disposed upon the segment 27 and acts in combination with the centralizing spring 31 to bring the wigwag arm 12 quickly to rest, immediately upon the shutting oil' ot the current to the signalling device.

Nearly all wigwag signals employ electro-magnetic action in their operation. From the foregoing description it will be understood that my invention includes broadly the idea et' employing a. brake with any magnetically operated wigwag device, which brake is ordinarily active but Lbecomes inactive, so as to cause no interfer-H ence with the action ot the signal, when a current is flowing through the operating elements of the'signal device.

I claim as my invention:

'1. ln a traic signal, the combination of: an armature; electro-magnets for reciprocating said armature; a brake member; a conncctori'or transferring the reciprocation ot said armature to said brale member, whereby said brake member will normally inhibit movement of said armature; and auxiliary armature means associated with said connector and adapted to be attracted by the magnetic linx induced by current flow through said electro-magnets, to permit movement ot said armature when said electro-magnets are energized.

2. A combination, as in claim 1, in which said connector `is movably secured upon said armature and engages said. brake member.

3. ln a trallic signal, the conibination oi: an armature; electro-magnetic means 'tor translating said armature; a swinging arm: a .brake member independent et said swinging arm; and a connector for transferring movement of the armature to said brake member, said connector being rendered inoperative by the magnetic 'fiiix induced in said electro-magnetic means by the ilow ot current therethrough. i

l. In a traiiic signal, the combination ot: an armature; electro-magnets for recipro eating said armalure; a sector mounted concentric with said arn'iature; a brake band upon said sector; a pair oi" bars pivotally mounted upon said armature, lthe ends of said bars normally resting upon said brake band and adapted to be raised therefrom by the magnetic attraction of sniil electro- 5 magnets; and projections upon said brake member for limiting the relative movement between said bars and said brake band when said bars are resting' upon said brake band.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto 10 set my hand at Los Angeles,Califo1niu, this 7th day of October, 1922.

MARK S. MORSE. 

